Publications (30)94.36 Total impact
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Article: Hypophosphatemic Osteomalacia Associated with Tenofovir: a Multidisciplinary Approach is Required.
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ABSTRACT: Tenofovir is widely used as first-line treatment of HIV infection, although its use is sometimes complicated by a reversible proximal renal tubulopathy.We report the case of a 45-year-old woman with chronic HIV infection and personality disorder, who after 12 months of tenofovir, complained of fatigue, diffuse bone pain and gait disturbances. The elevated level of alkaline phosphatase, hypophosphatemia and inappropriate phosphaturia suggested the diagnosis of hypophosphatemic osteomalacia secondary to proximal renal tubulopathy. A dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry showed a bone mineral density below the expected range for age (lumbar spine Z-score -3.3, femoral neck Z-score -2.1). A whole body (99m)Tc-methylene diphosphonate bone scan showed multiple areas of increased focal activity in the lumbar and thoracic spine and in sacroiliac and hip joints consistent with pseudofractures. Two months after tenofovir discontinuation and administration of vitamin D and phosphate, osteomalacia-related symptoms disappeared. Eleven months later, bone and mineral metabolism data were normal and bone scintigraphy did not show any pathological findings.This report highlights the importance of considering the diagnosis of osteomalacia in patients treated with tenofovir and emphasizes the need for monitoring alkaline phosphatase, blood and urinary phosphate and creatinine, especially in patients with risk factors for bone disease.Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases 01/2012; 4(1):e2012025. -
Article: Metastatic melanoma in a young woman treated with TNF-α inhibitor for psoriatic arthritis: a case report.
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ABSTRACT: The risk of cancer with the use of biologic agents in rheumatic diseases is still a matter of debate. Published data suggest that the extent of cancer risk might differ according to the type of cancer, and there is recent clinical evidence for a significant increased risk for skin cancer, including melanoma. In contrast with the extensive literature on cancer risk in rheumatoid arthritis, little has been reported on the development of malignancies in spondyloarthroparthies. We report the case of an otherwise healthy 31-year-old Italian woman with psoriasic arthritis who developed a melanoma of left third toe with metastatic involvement of regional lymphnodes after a 3-year treatment with the TNF-alpha inhibitor adalimumab. This case illustrates the possibility of a causal relationship between TNF-alpha inhibitors and melanoma. We believe that vigilance should continue in patients treated with TNF-alpha blocking agents, until the question on the increased incidence of cancers, including skin cancers, associated with these drugs will be defined.Current drug safety. 09/2011; 6(4):275-6. -
Article: Adefovir induced hypophosphatemic osteomalacia.
Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases 05/2011; 43(11-12):990-2. · 1.72 Impact Factor -
Article: Role of fetuin-A in systemic sclerosis-associated calcinosis.
The Journal of Rheumatology 12/2010; 37(12):2638-9. · 3.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Polyostotic Paget disease involving bones of the upper extremity.
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ABSTRACT: Paget disease of bone (PD) is a common skeletal disease. It is usually polyostotic and most frequently involves the pelvis, femur, spine, skull, and tibia. The bones of the upper extremity in poly- or monostotic PD are rarely affected. A patient with PD involving the third left metacarpal bone and carpal bones of the right hand is described.Southern medical journal 10/2010; 103(12):1253-5. · 0.92 Impact Factor -
Article: Vitamin D in systemic sclerosis.
Clinical Rheumatology 09/2010; 30(1):145-6. · 2.00 Impact Factor -
Article: Gastroesophageal reflux and lung disease in systemic sclerosis.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 07/2009; 179(12):1167; author reply 1167-8. · 11.08 Impact Factor -
Article: What rheumatologists should know about gout and cardiovascular disease.
The Journal of Rheumatology 05/2009; 36(4):854-5. · 3.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Glucose blood levels after intra-articular steroid injection in diabetic and non-diabetic patients.
Clinical Rheumatology 02/2009; 28(4):491-2. · 2.00 Impact Factor -
Article: Serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, a marker of skin thickness in systemic sclerosis?
Clinical Rheumatology 12/2008; 28(2):241-2. · 2.00 Impact Factor -
Article: A case of atypical giant cell arteritis diagnosed by positron emission tomography (PET).
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ABSTRACT: The authors describe an atypical case of a patient having giant cell arteritis presenting only with fever, diagnosed by positron emission tomography and subsequently confirmed by temporal artery biopsy.Clinical Rheumatology 07/2008; 27(6):799-801. · 2.00 Impact Factor -
Article: Visceral leishmaniasis, systemic lupus erythematosus and acute hepatitis.
Rheumatology International 06/2008; 29(1):111-2. · 1.88 Impact Factor -
Article: Risk factors of atherosclerosis in patients with spondylarthropathies: comment on the article by Gonzalez-Juanatey et al.
Arthritis & Rheumatism 04/2008; 59(3):455; author reply 455-6. · 7.87 Impact Factor -
Article: Polymyalgia rheumatica and elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis.
Journal of clinical rheumatology: practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases 03/2008; 14(1):59. · 1.19 Impact Factor -
Article: Acute psycosis in systemic lupus erythematosus.
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ABSTRACT: Psychiatric manifestations are common in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and often represent a challenging diagnostic and therapeutic problem, mainly because the uncertainties of the pathogenic mechanisms. We report a case of acute psychosis occurring in a female with SLE due to the stress of having a severe disease, rather than to SLE per se.Rheumatology International 03/2008; 28(4):395-6. · 1.88 Impact Factor -
Article: Genetic contribution to carotid vascular disease in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
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ABSTRACT: We investigated whether stromelysin, a candidate gene in atherogenesis, plays a role in atherogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a leading cause of mortality in SLE. A genetic study using polymorphism located in the promoter region of stromelysin was performed in 55 Italian patients with SLE. Carotid intimal-medial thickness (IMT) was evaluated by B mode ultrasonography. All patients with an "abnormal" (> or =0.9 mm) IMT carried at least one 6A allele, and the degree of IMT was significantly greater in patients carrying at least one 6A allele (0.63 +/- 0.22 vs 0.43 +/- 0.04 mm, 5A/6A + 6A/6A vs 5A/5A, p = 0.018). Our data show that polymorphism of stromelysin promoter may be relevant for SLE-related cardiovascular disease.Journal of Clinical Immunology 03/2008; 28(2):131-3. · 3.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Metastatic gastric cancer presenting with shoulder-hand syndrome: a case report.
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ABSTRACT: Shoulder-hand syndrome is a relatively rare clinical entity classified as a complex regional pain syndrome type 1 and consisting essentially of a painful 'frozen shoulder' with disability, swelling, vasomotor or dystrophic changes in the homolateral hand. The pathophysiology is not completely clear but a predominant 'sympathetic' factor affecting the neural and vascular supply to the affected parts seems to be involved. Shoulder-hand syndrome has been related to many surgical, orthopedic, neurological and medical conditions; it is more often seen after myocardial infarction, hemiplegia and painful conditions of neck and shoulder, such as trauma, tumors, cervical discogenic or intraforaminal diseases and shoulder calcific tendinopathy, but has also been associated with herpetic infections, brain and lung tumors, thoracoplasty and drugs including phenobarbitone and isoniazid. The diagnosis of shoulder-hand syndrome is primarily clinical, but imaging studies, particularly bone scintigraphy, may be useful to exclude other disorders. We report the case of a 67-year-old woman who presented with shoulder-hand syndrome as the initial manifestation of gastric cancer which had metastasized to bone. Wider investigations are advisable in patients with atypical shoulder-hand syndrome. To the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first case of shoulder-hand syndrome associated with metastatic gastric cancer.Journal of Medical Case Reports 01/2008; 2:240. -
Article: X monosomy in female systemic lupus erythematosus.
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ABSTRACT: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease, predominantly occurring in women of childbearing age. SLE, like several other autoimmune diseases, is characterized by a striking female predominance and, although sex hormone influences have been suggested as an explanation for this phenomenon, definitive data are still unavailable. Our group recently reported an increased X monosomy in lymphocytes of women, affected with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), systemic sclerosis (SSc), and autoimmune thyroiditis (AITD) in comparison to healthy women, thus suggesting the involvement of this chromosome in female predominance and in the deregulation of the immune system that characterizes autoimmunity. We have now evaluated X monosomy rates in SLE using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on peripheral mononuclear white blood cells (PBMCs) from female patients compared to healthy age-matched controls. In addition, because of a previous finding of microchimerism as a pathogenetic cause of a number of autoimmune diseases, we investigated the presence of cells carrying the Y chromosome. We did not identify an increased X monosomy in women with SLE compared to controls (P = 0.3960, SLE vs. HCs, Student's t-test), thus suggesting that a different mechanism of immune deregulation might be predominant in the female population of patients with SLE.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 10/2007; 1110:84-91. · 3.15 Impact Factor -
Article: Thyroid dysfunction in women with systemic sclerosis.
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ABSTRACT: Hypothyroidism has been frequently reported in systemic sclerosis (SSc), but whether SSc itself increases the risk of thyroid dysfunction is still controversial. The aim of the present study was to determine whether routine thyroid function screening in SSc should be warranted. Serum levels of free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine, and thyroid-stimulating hormone, and the presence of thyroid-specific autoantibodies (antithyroid peroxidase and antithyreoglobulin) were measured in 79 women with SSc and 81 age-matched women with osteoarthritis (OA) serving as controls. Hyperthyroidism was found in 2 of 79 (2.5%) SSc and in 4 of 81 (5%) OA cases. Hypothyroidism was found in 16 of 79 (20%) patients with SSc (subclinical in 14/16 cases) and in 9 of 81 (11%) patients with OA (subclinical in all cases; P = 0.131). Antithyreoglobulin antibodies were present in 14% versus 13% patients (SSc versus OA, P = NS), whereas antithyroid peroxidase antibodies were present in 23% versus 11% patients (SSc versus OA, P = 0.057). The risk of hypothyroidism was significantly higher in antithyroid peroxidase-positive patients (P < 0.0001), irrespective of the primary diagnosis, and greater in women with OA (OR = 24.6, 95% CI 4.3-141.9, P < 0.0001) than SSc (OR = 4.2, 95% CI 1.2-14.3, P = 0.035). SSc is not independently associated with an increased risk of thyroid dysfunction, but antithyroid peroxidase antibodies may identify a subset of patients at risk of developing thyroid dysfunction.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 06/2007; 1108:305-11. · 3.15 Impact Factor -
Article: Bilateral ocular myositis as a late complication of dermatomyositis.
The Journal of Rheumatology 01/2006; 32(12):2498-9; author reply 2499-2500. · 3.69 Impact Factor
Top co-authors
Top Journals
Institutions
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2012
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Azienda Ospedaliera Santa Maria della Misericordia
Udine, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
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2008–2011
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Istituto Clinico Humanitas IRCCS
Rozzano, Lombardy, Italy
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1992–2008
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University of Milan
- Department of Health Science - DISS
Milano, Lombardy, Italy
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